A year ago I could not keep up with
my blogs discussing the latest and greatest on the proposed alimony reform
bills pending in the Florida House and Senate. As you may recall, ultimately the House and Senate of
Florida passed an alimony reform bill that would have had major ramifications,
not only as it applied to alimony, but as it applied to time sharing between
parents as well as other significant changes to family law overall.
Then in the eleventh (literally) hour, Governor Rick Scott vetoed the
bill, leaving the law unchanged last year, but still with the significant
changes made to Florida alimony in the prior few years. My parting words last spring, however,
to paraphrase Arnold
Schwarzenegger (before he was California governor, and before he
impregnated Maria's and his nanny)was that alimony reform will "be
back."
Well, in case you missed the new flash, it's not coming back this
year. I actually was privy to this
information at the beginning of February when I attended the annual Florida Bar
Marital and Family Law review course in Orlando, and the powers that be told us
so.
It seems that since this is a Florida gubernatorial election year, our
dear Gov was concerned that even introducing such a bill would create controversy
(you think???), and no matter which way the shoe fell, even having the bill up
for consideration was just bad politics. Ritch Workman, the state representative from Florida's
52nd district, along with Senator
Kelli Stargel, who were the starring proponents of last year's legislation,
were slated to give it another go this year. According to my sources back in February, the outline of the
bill (backed by F.A.R. -our friends at Florida Alimony Reform, who believe
alimony is the root of all evil, particularly the evil of ex wives) was not
that far off from where the Family Law Section of the Florida Bar felt that a
compromise might be forthcoming.
Seems Governor Scott was more concerned about advocating for other
legislation that would create a more favorable political climate for his
re-election. This
lines up directly with F.A.R. president
Alan Frisher's sad lament
in late February when he expressed
that he had "a frustration that is beyond words," after Workman let
him know that Stargel and he decided to forego filing an alimony reform bill
during the current legislative session.
Ah,
politics. You have to love
them. It will be interesting to see
how the governor's race shakes out, and what effect Scott's re-election, or the
election of one of the Democrats vying for the position, has on the future of
alimony reform. If Scott wins
re-election and backs next year's bill remember, you read it here first. As to this subject, next year
I'll be back!
